Pneumatic feather-cleaning apparatus.



C. V. DBY.

PNEUMATIO FEATHER CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLIoATIoN FVILBD AUGxzl, 1011.

1,026,432. Patented May 14, 1912.

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COLUMBIA PLANDORAPH CO.,WASIHNGTON. D. C.

C. V. DEY.

PNEUMATIO FEATHER CLEANING APPARATUS. APPLIoATIoN FILED AUG.21, 1911.

1,026,432. Patented May 14, 1912.

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CHARLES V. DEY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 JOSEPH HIB/SCH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC FEATHER-CLEANING APPARATUS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 21, 1911.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES V. Der.l a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Feather-Cleaning Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pneumatic feather cleaning apparatus.

The main object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of improved construction for removing dust and other objectionable fine particles from feathers; whose operation shall be continuous and of large capacity as compared with the floor space occupiedvby the apparatus.

Other objects and advantages will be presented in the course of this specification, and with all of said objects and advantages in view, this invention consists in the several novel features described and claimed.

In the drawings furnished herewith, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the apparatus, taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2, Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a plan of the casing of the apparatus showing its connection with the various air pipes and fans or blowers employed, Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation, partly broken out, of a fragment of one wall of the casing and certain rollers and associated parts, and Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section of a modified form of the invention.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a plurality of feather receiving conduits, and one or more traveling screens, at one or both ends of the conduits, through which the feathers are rapidly moved, either by a blast of air or by a vacuum created in said conduits, said screen or screens being arranged to arrest the feathers blown through the conduits, while permitting the dust to pass through and acting furt-her to carry the feathers fromone conduit to the other until they are finally discharged from the machine.

Referring now more particularly to the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, a frame work 10, of substantial construction will be seen, upon which frame work is supported a casing 11, containing a number of conduits 12, 13, 14 15, preferably arranged one above the other as shown in Fig. 1, and being separated from each other by partitions or walls 16. All of said conduits may, if desired, open out at the ends thereof, but I prefer to close the ends of the conduit 15, and for this purpose have illustrated walls 17, at the ends of said conduit. Valls 1S, 19, are arranged at the top, bottom and sides of the casing to complete the conduits. Moving transversely through said conduits, at both ends, are traveling screens or separating walls 20, 21, here shown in the form of endless belts passing around rollers 22,

23, 24, journaled in bearings adjustablyL mounted upon the frame 10. In the arrangement shown, both of the belts pass around the rollers 24, and a drive pulley 25, is provided upon the shaft of the lower roller 24, for driving the belts through said conduits. The direction of the movement of the belts is indicated by the arrows adjacent thereto. At the various points where the belts pass through the walls and partition of the casing, said walls or partitions.

are slotted as shown, and if desired, bodily movable rollers 26, 27, may be placed in said slots, one on either side of the belt and yieldingly held in contact with the belt by springs 28, as shown in Fig. 6. The rollers 26, 27, are shown as provided with stud shafts 29, that run in slots 30, in the side walls 19, of the casing and the springs 28, are shown as coiled around pins 31, slidably seated in sockets 32, in the side walls 19, the pins having heads 33, bearing against the stud shafts 29, of the rollers 26, 27. This arrangement affords a simple enpedient for holding the rollers of each pair in yielding contact with the belts. To minimize the danger of leaks at the slots, I propose to employ flexible strips such as leather strips 34, that are secured to the partitions and bottom wall and bear against the belts. To the side edges of the belts are secured flexible reinforcement strips 35, that act to prevent the belts from stretching or spreading, said strips running in slots in the sidewalls that are covered by cleats 35u. The lower conduit is the intake end of the casing, and the upper conduit 15, is the discharge end thereof. Opening laterally into said conduit 12, at some point between the screens 20, 21, is an inlet pipe 36, leading from some suitable source of feather supply and having interposed therein a fan or blower 37, for blowing the feathers into the conduit 12. For the purpose of directing said feathers toward one of the screens, I provide one or more deflecting walls 38, extending from the inlet opening 39, toward the screen 20. A discharge pipe 36h, leads away from the open end 12a, of the conduit 12, for carrying off the air andthe dust removed from the feathers.

Opening into the conduit 13, at the end containing the screen 20, is an air delivery pipe 40, which runs fromV a suitable fanY or blower 41, arranged for blowing air through the conduit 13. Leading away from the opposite end of the conduit 13, is a discharge pipe 13a, for dust and air. Opening into the end of the conduit 14, through which the screen 21, passes, is an air delivery pipe 42, running from the fan or blower 43, arranged to blow air through the conduit 14, in a direction opposite to thecolumn of air moving through the conduit 13,y and leading from the other end of the conduit 14, is a discharge pipe 14a. Opening out laterally from the conduit 15, intermediate the belts 20, 21, is a discharge pipe 44, having interposed therein a fan or blower 45, for exhausting the conduit 15, and discharging the clean feathers from the apparatus and delivering them tol a suitable receptacle'. A deflector wall 46, is located in the conduit 15, and arranged to direct the movement of the feath ers from thek screen 20, to the discharge opening in said conduit. A slight gap 48, isleft between the wall 46, and the side 49, of the discharge opening, the object of which will appear later on.

In operation, the endless traveling beltlike screens are set in motion and the various fans or blowers started. Unclean feathers are delivered to the conduit 12, by the fan or blower 37, the blast of air causing said feathers to. be forcibly driven against the screen 201, while the air and the-dust, which has been jarred out of the feathers by reason o f their impact against said screen, passes on through the discharge pipe 36". The feathers striking said screen, are held thereon by reason of the blast of air coming in through the conduit 12, and are carried up between the belt and adjacent roller, into the conduit 13, whereupon they are blownl across said conduit in the opposite direction, by a blast of air furnished from the fan 41, striking against the screen 21; as before, kthe air and the dust jarred out of the feathers by reason of their impact against the screenl 21, passes out through the discharge pipe-13a, while the feathers are carried up by the Screen 21, into the conduit. 14, where they are again blown across through the chamber 14, by a blast of air derived from'the'fan or blower 43, striking against Y the screen 20, and being finally freed from dust or other fine particles that may cling to them, after which they are raised by the screen 20, and carried into the conduit 15,`

from which they are discharged by reason of the partial vacuum created in the conduit 15, by the fanor blower 45, and thereafter delivered to any suitable receptacle, practicallyfree from dust and other objectionable ne particles. By closing up the ends of the upper conduit, incoming air, necessarily passes through the slots for the belts at the top of the conduit, and any feathers that may cling to the screens are drawn back into the conduit and discharged with the remainder. The gap 48, is left so that the suction may act upon any feathers that might still cling to the screen 21, after passing out of the conduits 14, 15. The rollers 26', 27, and strips 34, practically close up the adjacent slots, Vand the rollers move back slightly as the feathers pass from one conduit to another.

In F ig. 7 I have shown three conduits 12X, 13x and 13X, at one end of which is' mounted a reciprocable screen 20X, which receives its reciprocatory movement from a crank and link mechanism 20y. The feathers are delivered to the receiving conduit 12X, through a pipe 36x, and are discharged from the conduits 13X, through discharge pipes 44X, 445. In this case the feathers first strike the screen 20x, at the end of the conduit 12X,

after which those clinging to the screen are Y moved up into the upper chamber 13X, and drawn out through the discharge pipe 44X. The screen being now in its uppermost position, any feathers that cling to the same in the receiving conduit, are drawn down into the lower conduit 13X, and are discharged therefrom through the discharge pipe 443. In this manner a continuous action may be had, and if desired a second or third structure like the one shown, may be employed for acting upon the feathers to which the feathers may be delivered by the pipe 44x, 445', after they have been acted upon in the first structure.

I find that in order to effectually clean feathers in a short space of time and with a comparatively small apparatus, it is necessary that the feathers becjarred somewhat to loosen the dust, and the dust be removed at the very instant that the jarring action c takes place; otherwise the dust will commingle again with the feathers. In the apparatus described in this application, it is quite evident that the dust 1s carried away at the very instant that it is jarred loose from the feathers and that said action may be repeated as often vas is found necessary until practically all of the dust or like fine particles are removed.

I realize that various alterations and modifications of this device are possible without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not therefore desire to limit myself to the exact form of construction shown and described.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a plurality of feather receiving conduits, one having an inlet opening for incoming feathers and one having a discharge opening for outgoing feathers, air circulating means for passing a column of air through each conduit, a movable screen extending transversely across said conduits, and means for moving said screen from one conduit to the other.

2. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a plurality of feather receiving conduits, one having an inlet opening for incoming feathers and another having a di'scharge opening for outgoing feathers, a movable separating wall extending transversely through said conduits and traveling from one to the other, and means for forcing air through said conduits.

3. An apparatus of the class described, comprising open ended feather receiving conduits, one having an inlet opening intermediate said open ends, and another one having a discharge opening intermediate said ends, a pair of traveling screens arranged adjacent to said open ends and moving from one conduit to the other, and air circulating mechanism for forcing air through said conduit, substantially as described.

el. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a plurality of open ended feather receiving conduits, one having an inlet opening for incoming feathers, and one having a discharge opening for outgoing feathers, a plurality of traveling, endless belts of reticulatcd fabric passing transversely through said conduits and moving from one to the other, and air circulating mechanism having air pipes opening to said conduits.

5. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a plurality of feather receiving conduits, one having a lateral inlet opening intermediate its ends, through which unclean feathers may be delivered to the conduit, and another conduit having a lateral discharge opening through which clean feathers may be discharged from the apparatus, a traveling endless screen extending transversely through said conduits, and air circulating mechanism for forcing air through said conduits.

G. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a plurality of adjacent open ended feather receiving conduits, one of said conduits having an inlet opening through which uncleaned feathers may be delivered to the apparatus, and another of said conduits having a discharge opening through which clean feat-hers may be discharged from the apparatus, a plurality of endless screens passing through slots in the walls of said conduits and moving transversely through said conduit-s, and air circulating mechanism for forcing air through said conduits.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, a conduit having a slot in one of its walls, a pair of rollers yieldingly mounted to lie in said slot, and a movable screen passing transversely through said conduit between said rollers.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, a conduit having slots in certain of its walls, a screen passing transversely through said conduit at the slots, and leak reducing strips secured to the wall of the conduit and bearing against the screen.

9. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a plurality of open ended conduits, one of said conduits having a lateral inlet opening and another of said conduits having a lateral discharge opening, a plurality of endless belts of reticulated fabric extending transversely through said conduits near their ends, rollers carrying said endless belts, one of which is a driven roller, a feather delivery pipe opening into said inletopening and having a fan or blower interposed therein, a feather discharge pipe and a fan or blower for discharging feathers through said pipe, air delivery' pipes opening into the ends of the remaining conduits, and fans or blowers interposed in said pipes.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, at South I'Iaven, Mich., this 12th day of August 1911.

CHARLES V. DEY. lVitnesscs:

W. ELKENBURG, J. R. Turco.

Copies of this patent may -bc obtained for tive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

